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How to Make a Scarf using Sashay Yarn and your fingers

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

How to Make a Scarf using Sashay Yarn and your fingers

I've been seeing these cute scarfs everywhere I go. My sister-in-law showed me how to make them. A big thank you to her!
They are super easy to make and you don't need any knowledge of crocheting or knitting. And they only take an hour to make! Another plus is the cost. You can make two scarves with one skein of yarn which costs around $5. That's only $2.50 per scarf!

My 10 year old made one this green one all by herself. And she let me take pictures so you could all learn how too.

This is what the yarn looks like. I've seen a few different brands, but Red Heart is the most commonly found around here.

To begin, unravel the whole skein of yarn. I know it sounds crazy, but you need to cut it in half. Find the middle and cut. Now you are ready to start the scarf. Spread the yarn apart and it will look like this.

Place your fingers in four consecutive holes. Notice how we left a little bit of yarn on the right. We'll finish that off later.

This next round you will put 4 more consecutive holes on each finger. It will be a bit tight, but don't worry it will get easier.

Now pull the bottom string up over the top string and over the top of your finger.

Repeat this with each finger.

With every row from now on, you will skip a hole between each finger. So as you start the row, grab the very first hole, but after that skip a hole between your fingers.

Here's another picture to help explain.

Now you need to repeat this process over and over until you run out of yarn. When you get to the end leave a few inches to finish it off.

Finishing the end of your sashay scarf:

1 - This is about how much you want left when it's time to finish off.
2 - Separate the yarn in the middle at the end.
3- Continue to unravel until you get close to your fingers.
4 - Thread one half of the unraveled yarn up through the the loop on the finger closest to the end of yarn.
5 - Thread through the next finger coming from the bottom
6 - Thread through last two fingers, coming from bottom each time and pull the loops off your fingers.
7 -Tie each piece of yarn as you would if you were starting to tie your shoe.
8 - Repeat to form a knot.
9 - Trim yarn close to knot.

Now tie off the beginning end of the scarf.

Repeat steps 1-3 above to unravel yarn in the middle. Then tie in a knot and trim the ends {Steps 7-9 above}

YAY! You are done!

But what happens if you need to quit in the middle before you're done?

Grab a pen and use it to hold the loops. Stick the pen up through each loop. The kind of pen pictured above is great for this, it can hold the loops without worrying that they will fall off the end of the pen.

UPDATE: After receiving a comment about what the back should look like, I realized that it would be easiest to just show everyone.

Another UPDATE 6/27/13: I had a question about unraveling the the yarn when you get to the end. Hopefully this collage will help you understand how to do that better:

1- Spread out the yarn so that you can see the honeycomb-like pattern. 2 -Find the middle and pull gently until it comes apart. At this point it comes apart pretty easy. Especially when you use both your hands and are not trying to take a picture :)3 - Do you see those two small little strings the arrow is pointing to? You will pull on the first string to unravel it. 4 - Now pull out the remaining string.5 - You will repeat steps 3 & 4. The bottom arrow is showing where you will unravel. The top arrow is the string that is unraveling to separate the pieces. Hope this is a little more clear.

I promise you will be addicted once you make one of these scarfs. Here are some of the other ones we made.

Which color is your favorite? I really like the pink one I made my 3 year old.

40 comments
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I really like all of them. With this tutorial, I may be able to make one of these myself one day. Great job Rachel. "Inspiration in Progress" Link up tomorrow. : ) http://onecreativeprocrastinatinggal.blogspot.com/

I've seen these around this season too and adore them. Thanks for a tutorial, especially admitting the time and cost. An adorable scarf for under five bucks in an hour? Now that's a craft I want to make!

Thanks for this tutorial! As I was reading through the instructions, though, I think I missed something. At what point do you take the yarn off your fingers? Does it keep piling up and up on your fingers, or do you take it off after you've put 2 rows on your fingers? Maybe if I had yarn in my hand to try it out right now I would be able to answer my own question... Thanks for any clarification you can share!

You don't take the yarn off your fingers until the scarf is finished. You will have the scarf hanging from your hand the whole time {If you need to take it off before it's done slide it onto a pen} You will only have either one or two loops on your fingers at a time. For each row you will add a loop to each finger, and then you will take the bottom string and pull it over the top string and over each finger. You will then have only one loop on your fingers again. It's kind of confusing to explain, but if you try it it should make sense.

Thanks for this tutorial! As I was reading through the instructions, though, I think I missed something. At what point do you take the yarn off your fingers? Does it keep piling up and up on your fingers, or do you take it off after you've put 2 rows on your fingers? Maybe if I had yarn in my hand to try it out right now I would be able to answer my own question... Thanks for any clarification you can share!

My scarf is flat on the back instead of being round. I think that I must be doing something wrong after working the first bottom loops off. Do you start the loops on your pointer finger for the next group or do you always load on the pinkie first? Thanks, I am really excited to get this to work out correctly.

I think you are probably doing it right. My scarf is flat on the back too. You rotate which finger you start with. For example, if you start with the pinkie and end with you're pointer finger, then the next row you will start with your pointer finger and end with the pinkie, and so on.

Thank you so much for this!!! I spent more time than I care to admit looking at youtube videos on how to knit a sashay scarf (with needles) and had no success. Then I stumbled upon your blog and it worked on the first try. My 8 yr old daughter is even working on one for herself. Thanks again!

Oh boy! Oh boy!! Oh boy!!! I have seen these scarves all over and have told total strangers how much I loved them! Now I can make one for myself. In fact, I am planning to invite 2 friends, who also can't knit or crochet, and have a party. We will each end up with 2 scarves.This reminds me of a craft from my childhood that involved yarn and a spool with nails around the hole. There might have been a tool as well. I would end up with a tube of yarn the diameter of the hole in the spool. I don't remember what I did with the tube. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

You're welcome! I'm trying to think of why they would turn out differently. Maybe a different brand of yarn? If it makes you feel better, mine don't look that way still. After wearing them, they sort of stretch out a little and don't look so poofy.

I just made a pink mix one for my 7 year old granddaughter and the purple mix for my 3 year old granddaughter (a shorter version). The 7 year old picked up the yarn and asked me to make them scarves for Christmas. I haven't knit in years but these were so easy - the 3 year olds took me 4 hours. I love this yarn.

I think it is flat on the back (and thus not as flouncy) because this technique doesn't let you turn it at all. Nonetheless, this is an excellent, less-confusing method compared to knitting and crocheting. Thanks for the tutorial!

I thought that the Sashay yarn was meant to be stitched from the opposite side, where the holes are smaller, to make pretty, undulating waves.Maybe that is the side used with knitting needles or a crochet hook?

Sometimes it depends a bit on the yarn. I think some is bigger than others. Another thing you could use instead of your fingers is a hat loom. Do the same process, but loop the yarn on the loom instead of your fingers. You could also make the scarf wider if you wanted if you used a loom.

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